A change in perspective can be a powerful experience, even if the changes are subtle. Since the beginning of last week, I’ve been working out of a classroom instead of my office because of the work going on in the parish hall building. In truth, things are running behind schedule, and we could still be in our offices right now. The portion of the work that caused us to vacate was to begin last week, but we didn’t know it was delayed until mid-week, and by then it was too much to move everything back. There’s been another delay this week, but again, it’s too much to move it all back, only to move it again this weekend. So, I am sharing an office with Mother Ashton, in the Pre-K class, although this is only the temporary Pre-K classroom, too; Backpack Buddies and Harry are in the real Pre-K classroom. Makes sense, right? I’ll save a rambling on living in Twilight Zones later – it’s too soon to do it now.

Back to changing perspective. My view has literally changed. I now have an enormous window to look through as I work, which I can see out of while seated. It’s a view of the back of churchyard behind the parish hall. I get to see the deer twice a day as they graze their way through. I get to see the cars of those visiting the cemetery, as they drive through the back lane. It’s a lot less busy than my view looking towards the Church, when I can see all the tourists in the Churchyard and cemetery. It’s a good view.  

I also must admit that although I have been in the back part of our building many times, I haven’t spent a lot of extended time back here. But in only ten days of “living” back here, I’ve noticed things that I only had a passing sense of previously. Like how bad the carpeting is, how loud the air conditioning is, (at least in this room), how the window trims were never finished, how there are water spots on some of the ceiling tiles, and how out of date our bathrooms are.  I already knew all the warts up front in the office area and have certainly lived with the Parish Hall’s quirkiness. It’s been eye-opening to experience a new-old space for what feels like the first time. Good thing we’re working on plans to fix this place up (pending a bit more fundraising)!

I should not be surprised by this phenomenon. I think we know this to be true in other aspects as well. The old adage says, “Don’t judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”  There are lots of places in this world we just don’t see until we have cause to do so. Last week’s rambling discussed what it was like to send a kid off on their own with a shiny new license. I’ve known “about” that phenomenon, but I didn’t know it until I lived it. I can also say I know a lot about poverty, but that’s not the same as living it. I’ve learned a lot about racial inequity, but I haven’t lived on the minority side of the equation. There are a lot of situations that it can be hard to fully grasp if we aren’t there to live it for ourselves.  

I’ve been watching the Apple TV series, “Five Days at Memorial,” a limited series that tells the story of the doctors and nurses at Memorial Hospital, in New Orleans, for the five days of and immediately after Hurricane Katrina’s landfall. It’s based on Sheri Fink’s book of the same name. The hospital is noteworthy because after all was said and done, there were forty-five deaths at the hospital during those days, more than any other hospital. An investigation led to the discovery that at least four of the patients seemed to have been euthanized, which in turn led to the arrest of a doctor at the hospital a year after the storm. Ultimately, a Grand Jury chose not to indict the doctor, as all involved realized just how trying the conditions were. As they were forced to evacuate, and it was not possible to evacuate extremely sick patients, they were “treated for comfort,” which may have indeed contributed to their deaths. 

Nonetheless, the understanding of what the doctors and nurses in that hospital did over those five days to save hundreds of patients and care for severely sick people without electricity, ample water, or food, has garnered commendations from the American Medical Association, including the doctor who went on trial for her role in administering certain drugs. The show is an opportunity, albeit a dramatized one, to demonstrate just how hellish the conditions were after the storm, as floodwaters rose and a city disintegrated into chaos. Those who watch the show will get a glimpse, Hollywood style, of the perspective from inside the disaster as it unfolded. We will never know exactly what happened, and it is still an ethical debate that rages on, but through storytelling, it may help us approach the matter differently. Perhaps we will be more open-minded and get beyond what were sensational headlines at the time.  

I am enjoying looking out a different window and seeing the spaces I work in, in new ways. I wonder what other windows I would benefit from looking out of. What about other spaces in our community I might not fully see or understand? Whose stories have I not heard that I might want to listen to, before I claim to know what it is I think I know? I wonder what God learned when God became human and lived among us?  Some might think it’s blasphemy to suggest that God learned anything, but I bet God wasn’t left unchanged by a new reality. I actually feel better that God knows what it’s like to be human. I appreciate the effort and all that came from it.  …Oh look – the deer are back!

Tom+

Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son came not to be served but to serve: Bless all who, following in his steps, give themselves to the service of others; that with wisdom, patience, and courage, they may minister in his Name to the suffering, the friendless, and the needy; for the love of him who laid down his life for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Photo Credits: Five Days at Memorial © Apple TV